To: David Archambault II
Chair, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council
Dear Sir and Brother,
The leadership of the Council for First Inhabitants Rights and Equality (Council FIRE) stand in unanimous support of the Standing Rock Sioux, their right to speak for themselves and to demand that treaties signed between the sovereign nations of the United States of America and the Sioux be honored and enforced. As Brothers and Sisters in the battle, we cannot sit idle. When one nation is in need, all nations must rise to defend what is most vital to future generations. People, native and non-native alike, are called to lift their prayers and fight to protect the water, the future will judge each of us on how we acted in this attack on sovereignty and Mother Earth.
Council FIRE calls for the cessation of construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline that encroaches on land and water that has long been granted to the Standing Rock Sioux through multiple treaties. We demand an end to the illegal trespassing, desecration of sacred sites, hostile attacks, violations of the 1851 and 1868 Fort Laramie treaties, the 1899 Fort Belknap treaty, as well as the 1908 Winters Doctrine of the United States Supreme Court. These treaties are no less valid that those the US Government has signed with Japan or Germany, or any other Supreme Court decision – it is long past time that this nation honor its’ word.
